UArts Student Journals

I'm having a tough time of it lately. The cold and the rain certainly aren't helping...I'm not mentally prepared for it to be December.

School is just so trying at the moment--we're finishing up with our "normal" assignments (which have seemingly all been themed around Halloween, *gag*) and gearing up for the Ely, which is our thesis project that centers around 4 main pieces. It's only 4 pieces, yes, but these pieces will be prepared for exhibition and judged by a jury, and more importantly, form one third of our portfolio, which will be all we have to show for ourselves in the effort to find jobs. It's big stuff!

So I'm obviously very distraught over everything, and the fact that it's getting to be crunch time has me feeling the pressure. I'm afraid to say that it's affecting my work, as well...I haven't really been happy with anything I've done lately! It's a really tough position to be in, and I hope that things resolve themselves soon. I just feel so defeated and disappointed in myself. Hopefully, some of this can be blamed on the prevalence of Halloween themes, which ultimately leave me feeling pretty cold and uninterested.

Want to see what I'm talking about?

The Halloween card for Bob Byrd's children's book illustration course--I actually love his class! The interior of this card has little illustrations of the shoes that would be stickers, and need to be matched up with the feet on the front. Soooo cheesy, but I like it. :)

This is not a finish, just a sketch/color comp for a "Halloween-themed event" poster. I'll have the finish completed for Tuesday's class.

This was a book cover design that I did a couple of weeks ago. I definitely think that I'll be doing book cover designs for my thesis projects, since I really do enjoy the process. Covers are far more conceptual than most other outlets for illustration...they have to encapsulate an entire book's contents in a quick, effective image that would attract a consumer who has umptillion other books to choose from.

We'll see how things turn out. I have high hopes for myself, and only I can make myself meet them. I'll keep you updated, hopefully with more confident words in the future.